msgid "Is Microsoft the Great Satan?"
msgstr ""
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msgid ""
"This article was given a major rewrite in 2009. The old version is also available."
msgstr ""
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msgid ""
"Many people think of Microsoft as the monster menace of the software "
"industry. There is even a specific campaign to boycott Microsoft. This "
"feeling has intensified since Microsoft expressed active hostility towards "
"free software."
msgstr ""
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msgid ""
"In the free software movement, our perspective is different. We see that "
"Microsoft is doing something that mistreats software users: making software "
" proprietary "
"and thus denying users their rightful freedom. But Microsoft is not alone "
"in this; many other companies do the same thing to the users. If other "
"companies manage to dominate fewer users than Microsoft, that is not for "
"lack of trying."
msgstr ""
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msgid ""
"This is not meant to excuse Microsoft. Rather, it is meant as a reminder "
"that Microsoft is the natural development of a software industry based on keeping users divided and subjugating "
"them. When criticizing Microsoft, we should not focus so narrowly on "
"Microsoft that we let other proprietary software developers off the hook."
msgstr ""
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msgid ""
"When we reject Microsoft's proprietary software, that is not a boycott. The "
"word “boycott” means rejection, as a protest, of products that "
"are otherwise acceptable. Rejecting a product because it hurts you is not a "
"boycott, just ordinary rationality. To maintain your freedom, you need to "
"reject all proprietary software, regardless of who developed it or "
"who distributes it."
msgstr ""
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msgid ""
"There is no need to reject Microsoft non-software products, or services that "
"you can use without proprietary software. (When you use a web service, "
"whether Microsoft's or not, watch out for non-free JavaScript programs "
"that it may try to slip into your browser.) When Microsoft releases free "
"programs, which it occasionally does, they are acceptable in theory; but "
"most of them depend fundamentally on Microsoft proprietary software, which "
"we do need to reject, and that makes them useless for anyone that chooses to "
"live in freedom."
msgstr ""
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msgid ""
"These obstructionist policies were not new: Microsoft, and many other "
"software companies, had been doing them for years. Secrecy and patents have "
"obstructed us greatly, and they may be more damaging in the future. For the "
"most part, the companies' main motivation in doing these things is to attack "
"each other; now, it seems, we are specifically targeted. Microsoft is using "
"its patents directly to "
"attack the free software community, and our community is fighting back."
msgstr ""
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msgid ""
"But Microsoft's patents are not the only patents that threaten us (and "
"software developers and users generally)—consider the harm that the "
"MP3 patent has done. Thus, defending against specific attacks is necessary "
"but not sufficient. The only full solution is to eliminate software patents."
msgstr ""
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msgid ""
"Other Microsoft practices specifically harmful to the adoption of free "
"software are the ones designed to build up social inertia that obstructs "
"migration to GNU/Linux. For instance, when Microsoft “donates” "
"copies of Windows to schools, it converts these schools into tools for "
"implanting a dependence on Windows. There are indications that Microsoft "
"systematically plans these activities as a campaign against "
"the adoption of GNU/Linux."
msgstr ""
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msgid ""
"Each Windows “upgrade” augments Microsoft's power over the "
"users; Microsoft plans it that way. And each one is a step forward in "
"malicious features, which include Digital Restrictions Management "
"and back doors. So the FSF runs campaigns to warn users against "
"“upgrading” to Windows "
"Vista and Windows 7. We aim to "
"reduce the amount of inertia they will create."
msgstr ""
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msgid ""
"We don't hate Microsoft, and we don't consider it the Great Satan. But we "
"do recognize it as the company that has separated more users from their "
"freedom than any other, and a powerful avowed enemy of computer users' "
"freedom. We act accordingly."
msgstr ""
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msgid ""
"Please send general FSF & GNU inquiries to <gnu@gnu.org>. There are also other ways to contact the FSF. Broken links and "
"other corrections or suggestions can be sent to <webmasters@gnu.org>."
msgstr ""
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